U.S. patent number 5,490,691 [Application Number 08/247,262] was granted by the patent office on 1996-02-13 for vehicle safety arrangement for positioning a vehicle occupant.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Volkswagen AG. Invention is credited to Bernd Richter, Ruprecht Sinnhuber.
United States Patent |
5,490,691 |
Sinnhuber , et al. |
February 13, 1996 |
Vehicle safety arrangement for positioning a vehicle occupant
Abstract
To protect a vehicle occupant from injury by a safety airbag
activated in the event of a collision when the occupant's actual
position is different from a normal occupant restraint position, an
occupant-moving arrangement is provided to move the occupant into
the normal restraint position prior to full activation of an
airbag. The occupant-moving arrangement is effected by inflation of
the airbag with an initially limited pressure or by a movable
cushion or a pivoted flap driven by a gas generator.
Inventors: |
Sinnhuber; Ruprecht (Gifhorn,
DE), Richter; Bernd (Bokensdorf, DE) |
Assignee: |
Volkswagen AG (Wolfsburg,
DE)
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Family
ID: |
25916156 |
Appl.
No.: |
08/247,262 |
Filed: |
May 23, 1994 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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42823 |
Apr 5, 1993 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Jun 30, 1992 [DE] |
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42 21 414.9 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
280/735; 180/274;
280/730.2; 280/739; 280/753 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B60R
21/013 (20130101); B60R 21/02 (20130101); B60R
21/213 (20130101); B60R 21/268 (20130101); B60R
21/0134 (20130101); B60R 2021/0006 (20130101); B60R
2021/0253 (20130101); B60R 2021/165 (20130101); B60R
2021/26058 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B60R
21/20 (20060101); B60R 21/26 (20060101); B60R
21/01 (20060101); B60R 21/02 (20060101); B60R
21/00 (20060101); B60R 21/16 (20060101); B60R
021/22 (); B60R 021/28 (); B60R 021/32 () |
Field of
Search: |
;280/73A,73R,735,734,753,736,737,739,728R,732,730.2,730.1,728.1
;180/274 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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3809074 |
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Oct 1989 |
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DE |
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4019677 |
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Jan 1992 |
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DE |
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4023109 |
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Jan 1992 |
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DE |
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3246137 |
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Nov 1991 |
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JP |
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3276844 |
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Dec 1991 |
|
JP |
|
4197847 |
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Jul 1992 |
|
JP |
|
4358946 |
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Dec 1992 |
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JP |
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6032195 |
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Feb 1994 |
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JP |
|
Primary Examiner: Focarino; Margaret A.
Assistant Examiner: English; Peter C.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Brumbaugh, Graves, Donohue &
Raymond
Parent Case Text
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of our application Ser.
No. 08/042,823, filed Apr. 5, 1993, abandoned.
Claims
We claim:
1. A vehicle safety arrangement for protecting an occupant
comprising airbag means arranged to be activated in the event of a
collision and connected to a collision sensor arranged to cause
full activation of the airbag means, a precollision sensor for
detecting an impending collision, and occupant-moving means
separate from the airbag means and activatable in response to the
precollision sensor prior to full activation of the airbag means
for moving the occupant of a vehicle seat into a normal restraint
position.
2. A vehicle safety arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the
occupant-moving means comprises a flap and means for moving the
flap in the direction of the normal occupant restraint
position.
3. A vehicle safety arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the
occupant-moving means comprises a cushion and means for moving the
cushion in the direction of the normal occupant restraint
position.
4. A vehicle safety arrangement according to claim 1 including a
pressure reservoir connectable to the airbag means to supply gas
thereto to activate the airbag means.
5. A vehicle safety arrangement according to claim 1 including a
negative pressure source connectable to the airbag means for
restoring the airbag means to its original condition after
inflation.
6. A vehicle safety arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the
precollision sensor is an integral part of the collision sensor.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to vehicle safety arrangements for
protecting occupants of vehicles in the event of a collision.
Conventional vehicle airbags are activated in response to signals
produced by a collision detector at the start of a collision. For
example, an acceleration or deceleration sensor may be used, or a
contact sensor may be provided on the outside of the vehicle
containing several contact bars which are normally spaced at a
defined distance from each other but are moved into contact with
each other upon collision-initiated deformation.
One difficulty encountered in conventional airbag arrangements
results from their being designed to protect a vehicle occupant
positioned in a predetermined location in the vehicle such as the
center of the vehicle seat. At the moment of a collision and the
resulting activation of the airbag, however, the occupant may in
fact be located in a different position. In the case of an airbag
positioned at one side of the occupant and especially serving for
lateral protection of the head and chest region of the occupant,
the desired protection may not be provided if the occupant's head
and chest region are not located in the normal position, i.e., the
center of the corresponding vehicle seat, at the time of the
collision, but the occupant's head instead is located, for example,
close to the lateral airbag. Then, if this airbag is fully
activated immediately in a collision, undesirable force may be
applied to the occupant by the airbag because of the very small
initial distance between the airbag and the occupant.
For this reason, the airbag systems disclosed, for example, in
German Patent No. 38 09 074 and German Offenlegungsschrift No. 40
19 677, are at first inflated relatively weakly so that the impact
of the bag on a vehicle occupant sitting "out of position" will not
be excessive and the airbags are then fully activated. But, in
these arrangements, there is a danger that some of the deceleration
distance for the vehicle occupant may be lost.
German Offenlegungsschrift No. 40 23 109 discloses an occupant
protection system for vehicles in which the sitting position of the
occupant in relation to the associated occupant protection device
is continuously monitored and the system then controls the timing
and extent of the protective measures to be instituted in a
collision. Apart from the relatively great cost ultimately required
by this system for each vehicle occupant or for each seat in the
vehicle, this protection arrangement operates according to the
particular "out of position" status of the occupant rather than
being designed for the normal occupant position.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a
vehicle safety arrangement for vehicle occupants which overcomes
the disadvantages of the prior art.
Another object of the invention is to provide a vehicle safety
arrangement airbag which, with minimal additional cost, provides
the same inflation condition at the instant of full activation of
the airbag regardless of the initial position of the vehicle
occupant.
These and other objects of the invention are attained by providing
a vehicle safety arrangement designed to move a vehicle occupant
into a designated restraint position prior to full activation of an
airbag arrangement.
Whereas in the prior art, "out of position" situations are accepted
as a given and the full activation of the airbag is merely delayed,
the present invention is designed to move an "out of position"
occupant into the normal predetermined restraint position.
Accordingly, at the instant of full activation of the airbag, the
same condition is always present with respect to the relative
location of vehicle occupant and airbag.
The occupant-positioning arrangement provided for this purpose may
utilize an airbag which may be the very same airbag constituting
the safety device itself. The inflation of this airbag, which is
initiated by a pre-collision sensor, occurs at a pressure which is
selected to be high enough to ensure that the vehicle occupant will
be moved into the normal restraint position but not so high as to
perform the actual protective function. It will be understood that
this requires the occupant-positioning airbag to have an
appropriate shape so that it is able to move the vehicle occupant
(or a theoretical average vehicle occupant) into the normal
position.
It should be noted at this point that the occupant-positioning
device need not necessarily constitute an airbag. Instead, flaps or
cushions arranged to be displaceable or rotatable at the start of a
collision may be used for this purpose.
It is also possible to employ a separate pressure reservoir,
preferably connectable under valve control to a compressor carried
on the vehicle, for recharging for operation of the
occupant-positioning device. Moreover, especially if the actual
safety airbag has not been fully released, the positioning airbag
may be restored to its original position ("regenerated") by
connecting it to a source of vacuum aboard the vehicle which can be
provided by the vehicle engine.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent
from a reading of the following description in conjunction with the
accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the roof column
portion of a vehicle containing an occupant-positioning airbag
providing lateral protection of the head of a seated occupant
arranged according to the invention;
FIG. 1a is a fragmentary cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 1
showing a modified form of the invention in which an
occupant-positioning pad is movable by gas-generating elements;
FIG. 1b is a fragmentary cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 1
showing another modified form of the invention in which an
occupant-positioning pivoting flap is moved by an inflatable
airbag; and
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating electrical and pneumatic
components associated with the arrangement shown in FIG. 1.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring first to the typical embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a
vehicle roof column 1 is provided with door seals 2 in the
conventional manner, not requiring further description. In the roof
column 1, a gas generator 3 is mounted to supply gas upon
activation to inflate a lateral airbag 4, which is shown in its
inflated condition. Since the gas generator 3 and the airbag 4 are
conventional and thoroughly familiar to those skilled in the art,
they are not described in further detail. The gas generator 3
inflates the airbag 4 by a rapid supply of gas when a sensor
delivers an electrical signal, indicating a collision, to a
triggering device in a conventional manner.
In the embodiment of the invention described by way of example, the
airbag 4 is used not only as an essential constituent of the safety
device itself, but also as a device for moving the vehicle occupant
away from its actual position at the moment of commencement of the
collision into a normal restraint position. For this purpose, an
inlet a for the pressure medium, shown in FIG. 2, is connectable by
way of a valve 5 to a pressure reservoir 6 as soon as a
precollision sensor 8 provides a signal indicating an imminent
collision. In the illustrated embodiment, the pre-collision sensor
8, which is of conventional design, is arranged in a side door 7 of
the vehicle and operates without contact, e.g., using microwave
techniques. The pre-collision sensor has a relatively wide scanning
field 8a, extending over an angle .alpha. (shown as 90.degree.) in
the vertical plane. A sensor bar 9, integral with the pre-collision
sensor 8 and consisting, for example, of several contact bars
normally separated by an electrically insulating air space,
thereafter initiates full activation of the airbag 4 when the
collision occurs.
Consequently, as soon as the pre-collision sensor 8 has detected an
impending lateral collision, discharge of the pressure reservoir 6
by way of the connection a effects initial inflation of the airbag
4 at a speed and with a pressure effecting a tolerable movement of
the occupant of an adjacent seat out of an "out of position"
condition approximately into the normal restraint position for
which the airbag 4 is optimized.
If this positioning arrangement should happen to misfire, it is
possible to utilize negative pressure generated by the vehicle
engine 10 and stored in a vacuum reservoir 11 and applied through a
connection b to restore the airbag 4 to its initial condition in
which it is disposed largely within the contour of the roof column
1. It is also possible to refill the pressure reservoir 6, which
may have been filled by a gas-generating cartridge, through the
valve 5 from a compressor 12 driven by the vehicle engine 10 and
the valve 5.
It will be understood that the invention is not limited to a
lateral airbag in the vicinity of the head of the occupant of an
adjacent seat. If the airbag is installed at another location, it
may also be necessary to accommodate the associated pre-collision
sensor in a different location, for example, in a shock absorber.
Furthermore, a pre-collision sensor may be dispensed with if the
configuration of the collision sensor is suitably graduated.
In the modified form of the invention shown in FIG. 1a, the vehicle
roof column 1, having conventional door seals 2 and the gas
generator 3 and airbag 4, also contains two other gas generators 3a
and 3b having pistons connected to a movable pad or cushion 4a. In
response to detection of an impending collision by the precollision
sensor, the gas generators 3a and 3b are activated to drive the pad
4a in the direction indicated by the arrow to the dotted-line
position shown in FIG. 1a so as to move the head and upper body
portion of an occupant in an adjacent seat into the normal occupant
restraint position prior to deployment of the airbag 4, as
described above in connection with FIG. 1.
In the further embodiment shown in FIG. 1b, a vehicle roof column
1, having conventional seals 2, the gas generator 3 and the airbag
4, also has another gas generator 3c coupled to a mini-airbag 3d
received in a recess in a padded flap 4b, which is pivotably
supported in a recess in the roof column. Upon detection of an
impending collision by the precollision sensor, the gas generator
3c is activated, inflating the mini-airbag 3d so as to pivot the
padded flap 4b in the direction indicated by the arrow to the
dotted-line position shown in FIG. 1b, moving the head and upper
body portion of an occupant of an adjacent seat into the normal
occupant restraint position prior to deployment of the airbag
4.
The invention provides a safety device which ensures that, in a
collision, the vehicle occupant will first be moved into a normal
restraint position before the protective airbag is fully
activated.
Although the invention has been described herein with reference to
specific embodiments, many modifications and variations therein
will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, all
such variations and modifications are included within the intended
scope of the invention.
* * * * *